


Goodbye, Hange Zoe: A Short Story Tribute

by hanasuz



Category: Akira (Anime & Manga), Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Goodbyes, Infidelity, Japanese Character(s), Japanese Culture, Male-Female Friendship, Retrospective, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan References, Tributes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:35:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26614570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanasuz/pseuds/hanasuz
Summary: A fictional story set in present-day Tokyo, two AoT fans who adore the Hange Zoe character struggle to deal with Hange’s death in canon. One of them has a secret her friend must never know about. What does Hange have to do with it? A story about friendship, forgiveness, and what it means to be human. Contains Hange-centered manga excerpts, creative images, takes on contemporary Japanese culture and society, as well as references to the 1980s manga masterpiece AKIRA.





	Goodbye, Hange Zoe: A Short Story Tribute

What’s a fitting tribute to one of the best characters in the _Attack on Titan_ manga? 

That’s the question I’ve been dealing with since [Chapter 132](https://hanasblog.beverlyclaire.com/attack-on-titan-manga-meta-chapter-132-review/) dropped. Hange Zoe had been a favourite character of mine from early on. I think it’s obvious because they’re always featured in my fanfic stories. Needless to say, I was gutted by their death in canon.

One thing I’ve been considering was a ‘Lament for Hange’ type of song, inspired by JRR Tolkien’s ‘Lament for Boromir’ in the _Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers_ book. In the film, this part had been cut woefully short, but in the novel Aragorn and Legolas sing this gorgeous piece of poetry. If only I could write something similar for Hange! Unfortunately, either my skills as a poet were entirely lacking, or I was too in over my head with grief to muster anything of poetic substance. Whatever the reason, that ‘Lament for Hange’ song did not materialise.

Next, I considered making a straightforward ‘Top Ten Favourite Hange Moments’ type of article, which would be fairly easy to write as all I need to do was go over the manga and pick out the best Hange scenes. But then that was just too easy. I felt Hange deserved something that required more effort than a simple list.

So there I was, ruminating. One day on my way home from work, I was half-asleep on the train when I spotted this young woman. From her outfit she seemed to be a typical office worker. She was reading a _tankobon_ , a Japanese paperback novel. I couldn’t see the title because it had a book cover on. But what caught my eye was a largish Hange Zoe keychain hanging from the strap of her shoulder bag. 

How rare, I thought. Eren and Levi are the most popular characters from the manga as far as I know, so finding some other character was a pleasant surprise. She must be a real fan, I mused. I mean, me, I’m also an AoT aficionado: I own the paperback volumes plus a bunch of anime DVDs. I also buy official merchandise when they’re the practical variety, that is, something edible. To my shame I’ve even purchased a whole bunch of character figures back when I was a teenager; they now lie inside a box at home. So yeah, I’m a fan, but what I _don’t_ do is carry merch around with me. That’s like, quite the hot-blooded devotee. Nuh-uh, not my style.

Having said all that, I couldn’t get the Hange keychain and the girl who had it out of my mind (yeah, she was pretty, too, so there’s that). This is it, I thought: the inspiration I need. So I wrote an entire fictional backstory about her. It’s a tribute to Hange Zoe, as well as an ode to the powers of imagination and serendipity.

Hope you enjoy! Please click on the links below to read:

  * [**Chapter 1 - The Office Whinger**](https://hanasblog.beverlyclaire.com/attack-on-titan-fanfiction-goodbye-hange-zoe-chapter-1/)
  * [**Chapter 2 - Secrets**](https://hanasblog.beverlyclaire.com/attack-on-titan-fanfiction-goodbye-hange-zoe-chapter-2/)
  * [**Chapter 3 - Girls Like You**](https://hanasblog.beverlyclaire.com/attack-on-titan-fanfiction-goodbye-hange-zoe-chapter-3/)
  * [**Chapter 4 - Tokyo Nights**](https://hanasblog.beverlyclaire.com/attack-on-titan-fanfiction-goodbye-hange-zoe-chapter-4/)




End file.
